Planned cuts in
this year’s Budget to child benefit, child tax credits, maternity support (including the health in pregnancy grant), child trust funds and housing benefits have been criticised as disproportionately unfair to women.
Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, has described the planned cuts as “the fiercest attack on family support in the history of the welfare state”.
A study by the House of Commons’ library has revealed that of the £8bn revenue to be raised over the 2014-15
financial year, £5.8bn will come from women, while men will only contribute £2.2bn.
Cooper argued that since women constitute the majority of the public sector workforce, they will be hardest hit by public spending cuts. She also put forward that since women are lower earners than men, they would benefit less from the proposed increases to income tax allowance.
The detailed audit from the House of Commons’ library comes as the
Treasury looks to put into place the vast public spending cuts proposed in this year’s Budget.
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